


The Relay Race

by Quipxotic



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ficlet, Gen, Post-Episode: s03e05 Give It Up Princess, Prompt Fic, Season/Series 03, Squabbling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 00:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quipxotic/pseuds/Quipxotic
Summary: In the midst of retrieving some valuable tech, the crew ofThe Razafind themselves being hunted by a monstrous experiment.





	The Relay Race

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a Beanarie prompt: “relay race.” Takes place sometime after "Give It Up, Princess."
> 
> Really, this is just an excuse to have these four running around squabbling with each other.

“It’s coming!” Three yelled as he ran full-speed down the corridor. When he cleared the hatch, Two hit the door controls and it slid shut. Seconds later they heard a series of booming thuds against the door, as if something large was hitting it from the other side.

“Okay,” she said, looking appraisingly over the others, “that didn’t work. So let’s go back to basics. What do we know about this thing?”

Three huffed, trying to catch his breath. “It’s big and nasty.” 

“Our weapon’s don’t damage it.” Solara shrugged as she checked her ammunition. “At least not in any way we can see.”

“It wants this.” Adrian held up a small device. “Although I can’t see what good it’ll do a thing without hands, but there’s no accounting for taste, I guess. It’s a shame this gizmo is so valuable or we could just try destroying it-“

“We’re not destroying it.” Three snatched the device from him. “Once we sell this thing, it’ll keep us in food, fuel, and booze for months!”

“And the creature’s between us and _The Marauder_.” Two concluded, ignoring their bickering. She tilted her head slightly in response to a thought. “How far is it to the other airlock we found?”

“You thinking of leading it there and tricking it inside?” Solara asked.

Three shook his head. “Won’t work, Boss Lady. It’s too fast.” 

Solara scoffed. “Just because it nearly caught your slow ass-“

“I am not slow!” Three pointed a finger in her face and she knocked it away. “It just has more legs than me. No person can out run that thing.”

“Maybe not in a marathon,” Two agree, “but what about in a relay?” They all looked at her in confusion. She smiled and began explaining her plan.

——

“Is everyone ready?” Two asked over her comm as she waited in front of the door. It was shaking now and she didn’t think it would hold much longer. 

“Ready,” Solara replied. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Two muttered.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do anything else?”

“You have the most important job of all, Adrian,” Two assured him. 

“Do I? Oh…good.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you know what to do?”

“Yes, yes! I’m not an idiot.”

“Okay then,” she said, steeling herself. “Here we go.” With that, she opened the door.

The thing that burst through might have been a dog once, or a bull, a horse, or an alligator. It had some qualities similar to each of them, but whatever experimentation had created it had obscured its origins in a mass of disparate body. It was also very large and had razor-sharp hooves and teeth, which Two knew from experience were both lethal threats. She’d seen what they’d done to the space station’s crew. 

The animal snorted as it surveyed the room. Two whistled and held up the device until the creature locked eyes on it.

Soon she could hear it clattering down the hallway as it followed her. It was slow to start but quickly gathered speed, getting closer and closer until it was almost upon her. Two saw the T-junction in the corridor ahead and sprinted toward it, her arms churning as she tried to gain any possible advantage. 

As she neared the junction she spotted Three. With out breaking stride, she tossed the device too him and continued forward down the corridor. He snatched it out of the air and pelted down the right hand hallway towards the next junction.

The creature was fast, but it didn’t handle sharp turns well. Ignoring Two, it skidded on the smooth floor in an attempt to change direction. It ended up sliding past the intersection and having to come to a full stop before eventually righting itself to began chasing Three.

For his part, Three didn’t wait to see if the plan had worked. Instead he ran for all he was worth. “I’m getting tired,” he said in-between breaths, “of being bait.”

“Less talking, more running,” Solara said over the comms from her location further down the corridor. 

He started to yell something sarcastic in reply, but then heard the sound of hoofs on durasteel. Deciding that he could always retaliate later, for once Three did as he was told. 

——

Solara watched as Three came into sight and snorted a laugh. He was built less for speed and more for taking a beating and then getting up again to inflict one of his own. “Pick up the pace, Old Man!” she yelled, knowing it would irritate and therefore motivate him. She nodded in satisfaction when he got incrementally faster in response. 

“I am not old!” he wheezed as he tossed her the device and kept running. Solara caught it and, turning down a corridor perpendicular to his, began the last leg of the race toward the airlock. 

Adrian was waiting there, pacing nervously. “I can do this. I can do this,” he repeated to himself. “It’s just pushing a button, even a child could manage that.” He heard the thud of footsteps, at first faint and then growing more distinct. The clatter of the creature’s hooves also grew louder until the noise overwhelmed all other sounds to become all he could hear. 

After what felt like an eternity, Solara dashed past him. “Get ready,” she yelled at Adrian as she ran straight toward the open inner door of the airlock. At the last second, she threw herself to the side and scrambled out of the creature’s path. The animal barreled between them and slid into the airlock, just as they’d planned. But its long, thrashing tail caught Adrian full in the face, knocking him back against the control panel. As he tried to regain his balance, his elbow accidentally pressed the button that controlled the outer airlock.

The airlock door slid opened with a hiss. The creature struggled to escape, but with a roar it was pulled out into the void of space. On either side of the hatch, Adrian and Solara were yanked off their feet as the space station began to decompress. Adrian grabbed onto the instrument station he’d been standing beside, wrapping his arms around it to keep himself from being sucked out. It worked, but it also meant he couldn’t reach the controls that would close the outer doors. 

Solara wasn’t so lucky. She scraped her fingernails against the walls and floor seeking some sort of purchase. As she neared the outer airlock door, a hand grasped her own and held on tightly. Solara looked up to see Two. The captain has wrapped one end of a rope around her arm and was trying to pull both herself and the bodyguard to safety. The rope strained under the pressure and Solara followed it’s taut line with her eyes, back to where it was tied to a heavy piece of equipment on the far side of the room.

A piece of equipment that was slowly being dragged toward the airlock. 

The pain in Adrian’s arms was more intense then anything he’d ever experienced before and he could feel himself weakening. Suddenly, something heavy hit the instrument station and he lost his grip. He felt the air current pick him up and toss him toward the open outer doors. 

In the next instant, the doors slid shut and Adrian slammed face first into the floor, groaning in both pain and relief. Beside him, Two and Solara lay exhausted from their struggles. Two looked over her shoulder to find out what had saved them. 

Three leaned heavily on the instrument station that held the airlock controls. Pushing himself upright, he re-positioned Bubba more securely on his back before grinning down at his shipmates. “Old and slow, huh? Seems to me I was right on time.” 

“Seriously?” Solara gestured toward the airlock. “More like about damn time!”

“Yeah, that was not my fault.” He looked pointedly at Adrian.

“What? Did you see that thing? It blindsided me-“

“Enough already.” Two helped Solara to her feet and smiled. “We got what we came for and none of us died. That means everybody deserves congratulations as far as I’m concerned.” She took the device and studied it. “Now let’s get back to the ship. A hot meal and a long shower are calling my name.”


End file.
